“Blessed be the day that I began a pilgrim for to be; and blessed also be the man that thereto moved me…”
– Christiana, Christiana’s Journey
As a teacher of English and Literary Arts, one of my great desires is that my students will be readers, especially the classics and other great books. These books should teach virtue and provide encouragement to live in such a way that their lives will be a credit to their family, their church, their school, and of course, the Lord Jesus. Therefore, I carefully select well-written books to use in class, books that will build virtuous character qualities into their lives.
One such book: Pilgrim’s Progress: Christiana’s Journey, by John Bunyan. Written in 1684, the book tells the story of Christiana, the wife of Christian, who was the subject of Bunyan’s first allegorical novel, The Pilgrim’s Progress (written 1678).
If you are familiar with the first book, you recall that Christian left his family behind in his quest to reach the Celestial City. Along the way, he meets people who help, as well as those who attempt to hinder him.
Bunyan was in prison while writing The Pilgrim’s Progress, only because he was preaching in public without being ordained by the Anglican Church. But as a devoted follower of the Lord Jesus, Bunyan chose to make the most of his time, completing the first novel over several years.
There is no way that he could have conceived of the idea that his beautifully written allegories would impact the lives of countless individuals over the course of nearly 450 years. It has been said that The Pilgrim’s Progress is second in sales only to The Bible in the past 400 years.
The abridged version of Christiana’s Journey is certainly much shorter in length than Bunyan’s 1684 edition, and it’s written in such a way that the language is much easier for a nine-year-old to understand. Also, the illustrations help to hold interest.
Well, we started Christiana’s Journey this week, and we’ll be reading it during the first quarter. I believe the Lord will bless my students as they read and think about the spiritual applications that are easily seen. After all, there really is plenty of deeper truth within its pages!
Incidentally…When you can, please visit my YouTube channel, All About Reading. There, I discuss great books, encourage people to read great books, and challenge parents to read to their children. You will easily find me on YouTube: @JeffMichaelsTN
© 2026 Jeffery J. Michaels / Plain English Publications
(Quotations allowed with attribution to this blog)